


Iniquities of the Father

by kerrykhat



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, X-Men (Movies), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Crossover, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Post-Movie(s), community: tthdrabbles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-25
Updated: 2013-04-14
Packaged: 2017-11-15 00:57:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/521373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerrykhat/pseuds/kerrykhat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joyce silently watched the aftermath of Magneto's attack on Liberty Island.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Iniquities of the Father

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** Joss Whedon owns "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and all related characters; Marvel owns "X-Men" and all related characters; I own nothing.
> 
> Response to TtH Drabbles challenge 113, "Secrets".

The remote clutched in her hand, Joyce silently watched the aftermath of Magneto’s attack on Liberty Island. She was glad that the girls were out for the evening. This was something that she needed to be alone for.

A clip of what had happened flashed across the screen and Joyce’s breath caught at the sight Magneto, aka Erik Lehnsherr. Her father.

Not that he’d had anything to do with her. She only had vague memories and a photograph from before he disappeared and reemerged as a mutant terrorist. Her mother barely mentioned him, and for the longest time Joyce thought he was only a figment of her imagination. 

Joyce’s mouth twisted in a bitter smile. The fact that his daughter was human probably factored into his disappearance from her life, not that she’d ever asked him. 

Switching off the television, she looked at a photo of her daughters. She had never told them about their grandfather and likely never would. Buffy had enough to worry about as the Slayer to factor in mutants, and Dawn appeared to be as human as her. There was no reason to add to their worries.

Every family had its secrets, and this was hers.


	2. Puedo escribir los versos más tristes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The delicate dance of remembering and forgetting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** Joss Whedon owns "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and all related characters; Marvel owns "X-Men" and all related characters; I own nothing.  
>  **Note:** Titles come off of a play on Pablo Neruda's poem, "Puedo escribir los versos más tristes".

**Title:** Es tan corta la memoria

Joyce knows that this isn’t real, but she doesn’t care. She’s three and her father’s here with her. He fades in and out of her life, almost like he was a ghost. Mom never answers when Joyce asks where he is. She just gets an expression in her eyes and Joyce soon learns not to say anything, because she doesn’t want to see her mom look like she’s about to cry. Her mom has enough to worry about.

“Hold on to my hand, Schätzchen.”

Later, she tries to cling to this memory as the last happy moment with her father. The next time he appears, almost a year later, his eyes are flinty and she shrinks back into the shadows while her parents argue. She closes her eyes and waits for them to stop fighting, wishing for it to go away. When the fighting stops, he kneels down in front of her and presses a locket into her hand. He gives her a kiss on the forehead before vanishing from her life one last time.

When Joyce wakes the next morning, she finds her pillow wet with tears for memories she thought were buried long ago.

~*~*~

**Title:** Y es tan largo el olvido

It’s a delicate dance, Erik discovers, to separate himself from his memories. At least, separate himself from the memories that only distract him from his mission to kill Shaw. Anger, hatred, scars that will never fully heal drive him, push him to exhaust every lead in order to complete his mission. He feasts on those memories.

It’s the softer memories that he burns away and leaves behind. Memories of lit candles and fading smiles and a sense of safety he hasn’t felt in far too long. Memories of a small hand in his as music quietly plays.

After he meets Charles, locking away those more recent memories takes on a new urgency. Charles is too naïve and too free with his mouth. He may be the closest Erik has to a friend, but trust is something he gives to no one now.

“Killing will not bring you peace,” Charles tells him that last night.

Erik’s mind goes briefly to Joyce. He tells himself that leaving was as much for her safety as for his. 

For a moment, he almost believes it.

“Peace was never an option,” he answers, and firmly shuts the door on the memory of his daughter’s laugh.


	3. Daddy, you bastard, I'm through

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joyce had so many questions growing up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** Joss Whedon owns "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and all related characters; Marvel owns "X-Men" and all related characters; I own nothing.  
>  **Author's Note:** Title comes from Sylvia Plath's "Daddy".

There were so many questions that Joyce wanted to ask her father growing up. Questions she swallowed and left unsaid to anybody but her diary.

_Why did you leave? Did you really love me? Where did you go?_

As she got older and she learned more about Erik Lensherr, those questions shifted form, became angry. Still silent, she glared at Magneto’s photo in the paper.

_Did you leave because I’m human? Was I not good enough for you? Do you hate me that much?_

When Joyce fell in love with Hank, it felt like something in her life finally made sense. No questions, no wondering if she was the problem. 

The day that Hank left, Joyce stood silently as Dawn cried into her shoulder. The questions, long dormant, resurfaced and began anew.

_Is there something wrong with me? Is that why Hank left? Is that why you left, Daddy?_

Years later, Joyce held her eldest daughter in her arms, silently comforting Buffy over Riley’s abandonment. For the first time, there were no questions. Only bitter resentment as she saw the same cycle of loss play out through her children.

_Daddy, you bastard. It was never me. It was always you._


End file.
